NAME

file − determine file type

SYNOPSIS

file file ... 

DESCRIPTION

File performs a series of tests on each argument in an attempt to classify it.  If an argument appears to be ASCII, file examines the first 512 bytes and tries to guess its language.  Classification currently known to file are: directory
( character | block ) special file
quota file
[ pure | separate ] executable [ not stripped ]
pascal object
[ old ] archive The following text file classifications may indicate “with garbage” if there are non-ASCII characters in the file.  ( c | fortran | pascal | assembler ) program
roff, nroff, or eqn input
commands
data
probably text

SEE ALSO

head (VI)

BUGS